Health Studies by Beverage Companies Take Sweeter View of Sugar

When beverage companies fund studies on the effects of drinking soda, they seem to take a sweeter view of the impact of sugar on health than independently funded studies.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco analyzed 60 studies covering 2001 to 2016 that looked at the link between soda and other sugary drinks, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes.

The study came about after a lawsuit between the beverage industry and the city of San Francisco.

According to The New York Times, the city hired Dr. Dean Schillinger as an expert witness, and he noticed the studies funded by beverage companies tended to downplay health effects of sugary drinks compared to the other studies.

All 26 studies that didn’t find a link between sugary drinks and obesity and diabetes were funded by the beverage industry, Shillinger found. One study funded by the industry did find a link, and the other 34 that did were independently funded.

Coca-Cola stepped back from research efforts last year after it was reported that the company was giving millions in funding to scientists that wanted to downplay the effects of sugary drinks, The New York Times reported.

The American Beverage Association responded to the study by stating that beverage companies have a right to do scientific research and that the studies adhere “to the highest standards of integrity for scientific inquiry,” Time reported. The group also pointed out Schillinger is a paid expert by the city of San Francisco and is not unbiased.

Schillinger responded, “This is not an opinion perspective. Any high school student could do this study. You count up the studies and see who funded them. That’s research. That’s fact.”

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